Top positive review

I went to the cinema to watch this movie knowing next to nothing about Senna and I left loving him. The portrayal of his character is magnificent. His talent, determination, spirituality, humour and overall passion is conveyed to all magnificently. I like to see a person succeed without having to curry favour with so-called bigwigs (Prost) and he succeeded. I can tell he is a loss to Formula One because I would watch it today if it was any good. Senna brought competition to the race, excitement - although the envious would call it danger - and personality to F1. It has neither of these things today. I am sorry that Senna came to be in a time before media is what it is today because there was not that much video footage of him - the archive footage is almost archaic by todays standards and Williams got away with letting him drive a substandard car.

Top critical review

I am reasonably interested in F1 and remember Senna's death, though I didn't know much about his life. This is a well-made documentary with plenty of good footage of the man himself, and some interesting analysis of the safety issues in the sport at the time. However, I didn't really feel it merited movie status, more a sunday evening BBC4 sort of thing.

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I went to the cinema to watch this movie knowing next to nothing about Senna and I left loving him. The portrayal of his character is magnificent. His talent, determination, spirituality, humour and overall passion is conveyed to all magnificently. I like to see a person succeed without having to curry favour with so-called bigwigs (Prost) and he succeeded. I can tell he is a loss to Formula One because I would watch it today if it was any good. Senna brought competition to the race, excitement - although the envious would call it danger - and personality to F1. It has neither of these things today. I am sorry that Senna came to be in a time before media is what it is today because there was not that much video footage of him - the archive footage is almost archaic by todays standards and Williams got away with letting him drive a substandard car.

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This is a brilliant biopic of Ayrton Senna. He was one of my essential sportsmen I've admired. I've watched this documentary dozens of times, it's a fitting tribute to his achievements on the racing circuit, and his tragic, premature death while preparing for the main motor racing event. It also focuses on his relationship with rival Alain Prost, and raising his own charity to the deprived people in his homeland, Brazil. In my opinion, this is an absolute must buy for any motor racing fan, whom the want to see their racing idol's retrospective.

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Been meaning to watch this for ages. It is a wonderful piece of documentary film making. The race footage is breathtaking, the behind the scenes footage eye opening, I thought F1 was political now but the 80's & 90's make the present day squabbles seem very tame.But it was seeing more of Senna the man which made this a much more rounded portrait of such an iconic person.I found the last half hour very hard to watch. You know what's about to happen and it's heartbreaking. Especially Senna's on board camera shots.Chilling. Moved me to tears.Fantastic film, highly recommend,just keep the Kleenex handy.

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Oh God, where do I start?? Senna, IMHO, is the greatest driver that ever lived and 100 minutes is not enough to portray his life and skills behind the wheel. However this film does a pretty good job of doing just that.It shows clips never seen before and of course clips we have all seen before, but may have forgotten about because let's face it, it's nearly 30 years ago that he broke through into F1 and that makes me feel very old.

It really shows what a dedicated, very emotional and religious man he was. People think he was a hard nosed racer who would do anything to win, well maybe he was, but he was always the first there when another driver was injured. The look on his face when Martin Donnelly had his near fatal crash at Jerez in '91 says it all and when Rubens and Roland had their accidents at Imola the weekend that he died. He knew he shouldn't have raced that day and how we all wish he hadn't.

We all remember what happened in May '94, it is etched into my brain, as we sat there and watched it all happen live not believing what we were seeing. It's impossible to see the footage without getting emotional and I defy anyone not to be upset by it. I sat there last night weeping. As the 17 years have passed there is not a day when I don't think of my only idol, the only man I would ever have left my husband for.

Life is so cruel, but what he did do is leave us with the BEST motor racing we will ever see and probably will ever see. Those cars were beasts and needed skill to handle them and the drivers of that era were true heroes. Nowadays they are computer operators and nothing more.

Make sure you have plenty of tissues because believe me as the film rolls on you will need them more and more.

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I had wanted to see this for a while, and bought last week now that it is a very reasonable price (just over four pounds)

It arrived yesterday, and I watched it the same evening.

Conclusion:

Very well put together, and even though this is feature length, it keeps you hooked the entire time. If you didn't realise how good Senna was before, then you will appreciate his talents after watching this.

This takes you from Sennas beginnings in karting, right up to his sad and premature death.

Really interesting seeing the film of the drivers in the pre-race briefings, and Sennas rivalry with Alain Prost - and all the conniving and politics that went on the background.

This won't just appeal to fans of F1, as it is so much more than just the racing. This shows the multi-facets of Ayrton Senna, and not just that he was a wonderful driver, but also a very deep, emotional & intelligent man.

The scenes following the Imola crash, and Sennas funeral are very poignant and touching.

I haven't watched the 2nd bonus disc yet, and the 5 stars is being given for the main feature alone.

Anyone who has rated this down, in my opinion has done so purely because they want to demonstrate their deep knowledge of Formula 1. But the reality is that this can't have every single minute of everything - otherwise you would be looking at multiple discs, and apart from unrealistic, it would also be stupid.

The film-makers have done a great job here, and if anyone thinks it should have been done this way, or that way, then maybe they should get a job in the film industry. The fact they probably haven't speaks for itself.

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Despite never being that interested in Formula One, I have to say I found this absolutely riveting. Director Asif Kapadia and writer Manish Pandey have structured this documentary about the legendary driver to play in the style of a conventional movie. It consists entirely of private, media and race footage but with occasional voiceovers from new interviews.

This is not a biopic per se, since it concentrates on Ayrton Senna's professional life. It begins with his announcement as a talent to be reckoned with in Monaco, 1984, where he went from 13th to 2nd in a wet-weather race before it was stopped. This is where the seeds of his great rivalry with Alain Prost were sown.

Although the pair ultimately ended up as team-mates at McLaren, their fierce competition resulted in many a spat on (and off) the track. No more so than in Japan, where for three consecutive years the winner of the F1 Championship was decided by the outcome of dramatic incidents on Suzuka Circuit.

The Grands Prix themselves unfold with some extremely well-edited material, including the pre-race drivers' meetings, which provide an engrossing insight into the politics of Formula One. Ironically, it's Senna's overriding concern for driver safety that frequently comes to the fore.

His fearlessness behind the wheel notwithstanding, Ayrton Senna was deeply spiritual. It's because such a complete picture of the man is presented that his death, as shown here, is sudden and affecting but nonetheless handled with sensitivity.

The picture quality is obviously as good as it can be, given its origins. As well as an audio commentary, bonus features include 53 minutes of traditional 'talking head' interviews that can be viewed within the original version if desired, making it an epic 2 hours and 42 minutes overall.

Theatrically-released documentaries have become something of an art form in recent years and this can be counted with the best of them.

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Having heard this documentary film name-checked positively by Mark Kermode and having heard good things about it by word of mouth, I decided to check it out on DVD. Having watched it I would have to say that it is an impressive piece of work, well edited and thought provoking. I was moved by it, and became interested in the protagonists and politics behind the scenes The meetings about track safety are piquant given that we know what happened in the end, and the footage of Senna on Brazilian TV etc. is at turns amusing and touching. The rivalry with Alain Prost (the 'Professor' vs the instinctive and less calculating Senna) is well drawn and a feature of the film; at one point I felt that it was almost stretched to the point of turning Prost into a kind of pantomime villain, so I was pleased to note that he achieved a sort of redemption at the close of the film, when it was revealed that Prost is a trustee of the Senna Foundation. Hindsight also makes the Williams car, stripped of the advantages that had earnt it the manufacturers championship the year before, appear to be a death trap waiting to happen; again, I am not sure how true this was from my limited level of understanding when compared to the other cars.So, definitely highly watchable in my view, although it will not be to all tastes - my wife didn't engage with it as a film, and the fact that the box bears an endorsement by Jeremy Clarkson probably indicates its likely target audience. Petrolheads and people wanting to find out more about a remarkable and instinctive (not to say, ruthless and at times dangerous) driver will enjoy it greatly.On a technical note there is a lot of stock footage used that is grainy, as other contributors have noted. It in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the film - in fact, it probably adds to the experience - but I do not think that there would be any benefit to be gained in buying the more expensive blu-ray edition. There is also a disc of extras that I cannot comment upon, having not viewed it yet. If you were an F1 fan, then I think that you would find the second disk an interesting adjunct to the main course.

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Yes a good film and I got a much more humble feeling for Senna in this film. He sometimes cam across to the public as being arrogant. For example seeing how he was treated in the Prost saga was a real eye opener and you realise how political in was bahind the scenes. The autority is French - prost was French and they were going to make sure this upstart Senna was put in his place, disgraceful. Moving to Williams was likely his undoing. McLaren had a less seat of the pants ethic

I think DVD quality would be suffecient as its mostly old quality film, but for me might as well keep it a long time

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All reviews of this DVD I have seen since it's release have been positive and now I know why. I wasn't sure what to expect as it is a 'Documentary' but it works very well as it is all constructed from video or TV footage without any single commentary, just comments from various people involved with Formula 1 and Senna himself at the time, so you get a pretty balanced view of the man himself and his motivations.The little clips from the drivers breifings are especially revalatory (the FIA and particularly Jean-Marie Balestre himself dont do themselves any favours....) and are something rarely seen by anyone outside, but help to show the humanity and very real concerns of all the drivers.In fact I would say that it would appeal to anyone , not just the fans, as it also brings in his family and his concerns for his countrymen also, not just the racing.Worth every penny.

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Its not often I buy sports DVDs that are not about football. However, this is one DVD were I had to make an exception. I can remember watching Ayrton Senna on TV in my younger days. He was one of the rare breed of sportsmen who transcend different sports. Watching this brought all the memories back. Anyone not old enough to remember him when he raced, will marvel at the unique talent he had. The film is made mostly by using the footage of the key stages in his F1 career. Contributions are made by key people who were involved at various levels. Like Ron Dennis and Alain Prost. Thankfully we don't get a third rate actor doing a voiceover. Something which ruins a lot of TV documentaries. The bonuses are also good too. Especially the "lost" radio interview and the video about Ayrton Senna's charity foundation. Altogether this shows he was more than just a racing driver. He'll always be very special to people in Brazil and around the world.